1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to motor vehicles, such as passenger cars and light trucks. More particularly, the present invention relates generally to a structural carrier assembly adapted for installation in a motor vehicle front or rear end for mounting various accessories.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, the front and rear ends of most motor vehicles are built into the vehicle body one piece or component at a time. The installation of literally hundreds of different components in the motor vehicle requires the manufacturer to maintain lengthy, complex, and costly assembly lines as well as extensive tooling and fixtures. This complexity is due not only to the high number of parts involved, but also the assembly methods currently used in the automotive industry and the amount of on-line adjusting and repair that is often needed to correct assembly defects. Additionally, the well-known assembly line manufacturing process is highly labor intensive, again due mainly to the high number of parts and assembly methods currently used in the automotive industry.
Typically, once a painted vehicle body comes to the finish assembly line, hundreds of individual components are assembled to the vehicle body. The numerous individual components are used to complete the suspension system, steering system, braking system, powertrain, cooling system, electrical system, etc. As indicated previously, the individual components comprising these systems are typically added to the vehicle body one-by-one or in small subgroups to finish the assembly of the motor vehicle.
The large number of components required to assemble a motor vehicle requires the assembly line to be extremely long and requires many people to accomplish numerous discreet tasks along the assembly line. This makes the process of motor vehicle assembly unnecessarily slow and complicated and adversely affects the quality and reliability of the motor vehicle when it is completed. Additionally, the confined space within which the workers operate makes on-line service and repair tasks difficult. The current system for assembling motor vehicles is needlessly complex, slow, and expensive; the invention described hereinafter reduces the complexity and cost, and increases speed of motor vehicle manufacturing.